I'm here
by Rasain
Summary: Short and sweet. One-shot.


I'm here

The rain was pouring through the night and the violin was playing in one of the larger halls. The sound hit the cold concrete walls and reverberated through the whole house, until it reached the front porch, where Ichigo was sitting.

She had to be dreaming, she thought. How could one person be at home one moment, then just wake up in a whole different setting the other? Unless... unless a certain green-haired young man had something to do with it, and sure as hell he had.

Three years had passed since they came back to Earth. That day, the whole atmosphere felt as if it pressed into her, suffocating her to the point where she thought she might drop to her knees and lose her vision. She had woken up like that, with a sick feeling to her stomach. Her mother hadn't been home to keep her there, so she walked to school, as usual. Needless to say, she was out cold before the first period even started.

Something was definitely wrong. That night, on that fateful night, there was a knock on her door. Not her window or her wall, but on her door. Her mother answered.

"Ichigo," she yelled from the bottom of the stairs, "There's someone here to see you."

At first, she thought it would be Pudding, because Aoyama had gone abroad for his studies, Zakuro was somewhere in Central Europe, Mint had moved out of Japan to start her dancing career, Lettuce was studying in England. The only one of her friends that remained in Japan for the time being was Pudding.

"I'll be down in a minute."

She pushed her covers aside and pulled a t-shirt over her tank top. She almost fell off the last step when she caught glimpse of dark green tresses. Even though the hairstyle was different, the hair itself longer and thicker, no one could mistake the owner of that unusual color.

"Hello, love."

That night, he hadn't called her "kittycat" or "Kitten". Instead, he settled for a word that Ichigo never thought she'd ever hear again since Aoyama had broken up with her.

His voice had changed over the time that he spent away. To tell the truth, she expected him to still look like his thirteen year old self, but it was obvious that she was absurd. Three years ago, when she had seen him for a second first-time, it had been a major surprise. She nearly started screaming, but her throat constricted and her vision blurred and she was in his arms before she could utter a single sound.

"Are you going to stay here by yourself all night?" the same voice, mature and masculine, brought her back from her reverie and she became once again aware of the water drops hitting the roof over their heads and the violing crying its sorrow. She looked over at him and thought, God, how could she have rejected him so many times?

It was their wedding night and she'd been sitting here for the past couple of hours while Kisshu treated the guests and probably worried about her. Earlier that day, he took her to this cabin without hinting at his plans. It turned out to be a wedding party and everyone she cherished was there, waiting for her.

"May I sit with you? It's clear that you're not feeling too well." He added when she still kept silent. Was she green in the face again? Her cramps were gone now, but the nausea was not and she couldn't risk standing up and falling face first on the carpet. Not in front of their friends and her family, though.

"Sure." she moved aside to let him sit next to her on the bench and she saw his eyes going straight to her belly, only to realize that her hands were cupping the growing womb."I'm fine. We're fine."

Kisshu's hot palm cupped the back of her neck, right under the low chignon and put slight pressure on the spot. Instantly, the tension in her limbs released and a sigh escaped her throat.

After a few minutes of staring straight into the night, he shifted so that the light over their heads illuminated half of his soft expression.

"You know, we're not kids anymore. You don't need to push me away everytime you need your space, just tell me what you need and I'll provide it."

Her insides melted at his words because she knew he was right, that's what she did. She simply pushed him away. She was almost twenty six now, he was getting close to thirty and they still got into conflicts as if they were barely teenagers.

"I'm sorry, I guess I should've told you that I needed some fresh air..."

"Yeah, I thought you ran away on our wedding night. Got scared or something." The amused tone of his signaled her that he was just trying to light the mood.

"Scared?" He smirked. "Pshh, as if."

He circled an arm around her waist and pulled her into his warmth. Just before she could feel his lips on her hair, she heard him mutter.

"I'm here, Ichigo. I'm here." She closed her eyes and enjoyed his body pressed into hers, it felt surreal.

"I know, Kish. I know."

And she knew, because one could not simply ignore 180 pounds of hard muscle and iron melting hotness resting at their side. He seemed to be turning something over in his head, because his brow was furrowing and his fingers tapped on their own at her shoulder. Just when she was about to open her mouth and call him on it, his head turned so fast, that his braids carressed her cheek. His lips were over hers a second later, their emotional moment simply vanished.

"Let's go upstairs." He stood then started to pull on her hand, but she worriedly looked through the window at the people inside the cabin.

"What about them?"

"I thought you said you weren't scared of our wedding night."

"I'm not, but-"

"Then let's go."

It wasn't as if she could do something about things like these, or that she wanted to. He always got his way with her.


End file.
